Kalico stood. “Conservationists and evolutionists fought this battle back on Earth. I really don’t care about the philosophical aspects. Our problem is this: If we’re going to learn anything about Donovan, we have to be alive to do it. Most of you heard about Dortmund Weisbacher’s brief sojourn dirtside. His conclusion was that the damage was already done. That humans had unleashed a maelstrom of ecological disaster. In the end, it turned out that Donovan is more than capable of holding its own. For the time being, if we have to kill BMTs, scimitars, or any other predators to keep ourselves alive, we’ll do it. The number of predators Maritime Unit’s presence will kill for our own preservation isn’t going to trigger any extinctions. Instead, the research you people do will lead to a long-term understanding of the ecosystem that will eventually allow humans and Donovanian predators to coexist. But that’s up to you and how well you do your jobs.”

“So,” Lara Sanz asked, “this is it?” She gestured at the room. “The length and breadth of our existence? Just this Pod? I mean, it’s barely been a month, but I’m asking myself if I can stand being stuck inside here for another week, let alone years. The feeling of freedom I felt after getting the hell out of Ashanti has already vanished. What about those promised rotations to Port Authority? When is that going to happen?”

Michaela pitched it to Kalico with a questioning look.

Kalico pitched if back, saying, “Director, that’s your call. You work out the schedule. Our only problem is transportation back and forth. The A-7 can’t land on the Pod, and the seatrucks are limited in range. My thought is to create a waystation on the mainland beach. That’s a five-hundred-kilometer hop across the Gulf in the seatruck. We can send an airtruck from PA for the second leg of the journey. If we put a recharging station at the way point, the seatruck can recharge for the trip back. Meanwhile, while you’re in PA, you can stay at the Corporate barracks. I’ll provide you with an allowance of SDRs so you can cover any other costs.”

Hailwood looked out at her people. “We’ll begin rotations at the end of the week. Meanwhile, that’s it. We’re going to work so that we can do what we came here to do. If that doesn’t suit you, see the Supervisor for reassignment to Corporate Mine.” A pause. “Now, let’s get at it, people. I want suggestions for revised research methodologies by 17:00 hours.”

Kalico watched the men and women getting to their feet, heard them ask each other: “What are you going to do?” “You happy with this?” “What if it goes wrong?” and “This is not what I signed up for.” “When did Michaela get so hard?”